Just my luck at Sapling High

Chapter 2: The Inner Circle

You can take the empty seat in the second row, Brooke," Mrs. Albright said, pointing toward the middle of the room.

Brooke kept her eyes glued to the floor as she walked down the aisle, the soft thud of her sneakers feeling incredibly loud. As she sat down and unpacked her notebook, she could feel the heavy, suffocating weight of the social hierarchy shifting around her. It didn't take a genius to figure out who ruled Room 302.

Sitting directly to her left was a girl who looked like she had just stepped off a Parisian runway. Her long, glossy dark hair fell perfectly over a designer blazer, and her manicured nails tapped a slow, rhythmic beat against her pristine iPad screen. This was Clara. The undisputed school queen. She didn't look at Brooke; instead, she gave a subtle, icy tilt of her chin, a silent command that instantly told the rest of the room Brooke was beneath her notice.

Right next to Clara sat Piper. Piper was pretty in a sharp, intense way, wearing a perfectly styled school cardigan. Unlike Clara, who ignored Brooke completely, Piper was staring straight at her. Her eyes narrowed into tiny slits, inspecting Brooke’s worn-out hoodie and messy ponytail. There was an immediate, defensive walls-up vibe radiating from her.

Brooke felt a knot form in her stomach. Great. I’m already on the bad side of the most popular girls in school.

"Alright, class, turn to page 142 in your textbooks," Mrs. Albright’s voice echoed.

Brooke opened her bag, frantically searching through her folders. Her stomach dropped. In the rush of moving offices, she realized she hadn't been given the advanced textbook yet. She sat frozen, staring at her empty desk, wishing the floor would open up and swallow her.

"Hey."

A soft, low voice whispered from the row to her right.

Brooke turned her head. Sitting just a few feet away was a boy with effortlessly messy brown hair and striking, expressive eyes that seemed to hold a hint of a smile. He was devastatingly handsome, the kind of boy who probably had half the school sighing whenever he walked down the hall.

He slid his heavy textbook across the gap between their desks, lining it up right between them.

"I'm Chris," he whispered, leaning in slightly, his voice warm and completely friendly. "Don't worry about Albright, she moves fast. You can share mine until you get your copy."

Brooke blinked, caught off guard by his sudden kindness. "Oh... thank you. I'm Brooke."

"I know. The girl who aced the un-aceable quiz," Chris whispered back, flashing a brilliant, dimpled smile that made her chest tighten for a brief second. "Pretty impressive."

Before Brooke could reply, she felt a burning sensation on the side of her face. She looked past Chris and saw Piper watching their interaction. Piper’s knuckles were white as she gripped her stylus pen, her face tight with a mixture of jealousy and pure anger. Clara was whispering something in Piper's ear, her icy eyes darting toward Brooke.

Brooke quickly looked back down at the textbook, a sinking feeling in her chest. Chris was just being nice, but in a place like Sapling High, a simple smile from the most handsome boy in class was enough to start a war.